


It will be a long trip

by Clocketpatch



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-06
Updated: 2014-05-06
Packaged: 2018-01-23 17:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1573820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clocketpatch/pseuds/Clocketpatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Susan prepares herself for a new life</p>
            </blockquote>





	It will be a long trip

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the lj dw_allsorts challenge. The prompt was: it will be a long trip. This is also fulfilling the chosen family prompt on my trope bingo card

"It will be a long trip," Grandfather said.

 

He didn't say where to and he didn't say when. He did say that Susan wasn't to speak of it to anyone – not even to him if there was a chance of being overheard. That was only sensible. Susan didn't believe she was under surveillance, yet, but Grandfather certainly was, and the cousins they passed each day in the halls were all too willing to snitch or gossip if they thought it would be to their benefit.

 

Susan packed in secret. She added a bit more to her stash each day. Not knowing the where or the when or even the duration beyond Grandfather's vague, "long", Susan tried to prepare for every eventuality: clothing for cold weather and hot, ration pills to last for years, a datacube for entertainment, translation dictionaries for half a dozen planets –

 

It was all useless in the end. Grandfather came in the night. He took one look at the pile and huffed.

 

"It will be a _long_ trip, Susan," he said.

 

"Yes, and I've prepared."

 

"And have you prepared to carry it all, hmm?"

 

They ended up sneaking away from the Capitol with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The time capsule Grandfather stole was cantankerous and outdated. As it groaned away from the planet, Susan was shaken by the implications of Grandfather's words now that their trip was truly under way. It had been all abstraction for such a long time. Susan had dreamed about escape, and planned, and even made small, rebellious journeys to the outlands, but those things had all had clear delineations. Dreams ended, and she'd always snuck back into the Citadel before dawn. But this –

 

They might never return. _Long_ could well mean _forever_. They were, from this day on, beggars drifting between the stars.

 

Grandfather leaned against the console. Getting the capsule to launch had been exhausting for both of them. The ship was nearly derelict. It was a miracle it hadn't pulled them to pieces. Worse, it was meant for six pilots, not two. Maintaining it would be a burden.

 

How would Grandfather cope? He wasn't half so old as he looked, Susan knew, but his body was wearing thin and regenerating away from medical support was a dangerous prospect. They would have to find a place to land and settle; to learn how to use the ship's medical equipment; to learn how to be free.

 

_We are free_

 

Susan looked at the time rotor, startled. It had been more a feeling than a voice, but it had been clear and loud in her mind. The ship had spoken. Ships didn't speak did they? The look on Grandfather's face told Susan that he'd felt it also, and perhaps stronger because of his proximity to the console.

 

"Grandfather, do you think…" Susan said, trying to work the fear and amazement that was welling up inside her into words.

 

"It is only a machine," he said, taking his hands away from the polished white panels and controls. "We are both tired, hmm? Apt to hear and think the strangest things. But we must stay sharp, Susan. Sharp! They will be after us for a long time now…"

 

Susan could see that the same realization which had broken over her moments before was now passing over him. They were entirely cut-off. Exiles. Worse.

 

 _And free_. The feeling pulsed joyously through the air. _We are free!_

 

The 'we' was not plural, Susan knew. The ship was referring to its present self and its future selves concurrently. Its hapless passengers were not included.

 

Grandfather fussed with his collar, keeping his eyes averted from Susan's questioning glance. Susan knew that he didn't want to admit the terrible danger he'd brought them both into. The ship had consciousness. Susan had heard rumours about that and they never ended well. No wonder this time capsule had been scrapped.

 

"Now my dear, it is time for us to investigate the sleeping arrangements available on this vessel. There's no need for you to worry. We've passed the transduction barriers, and a pair of miscreants like us are hardly worth the Council wasting resources to comb the vortex. We will be safe to sleep and fresh when we awaken. And free." His forehead knitted slightly, as if he wasn't certain of what he was saying. "We are free."

 

Grandfather's hands dropped abruptly and he walked out of the console room. Susan trailed after him. Behind her, the time rotor continued moving up and down.

 

 _Free_. The feeling pulsed around her as Susan followed Grandfather deeper into the maze of the ship. And then, something different –

 

Gratitude? Not quite. The ship wasn't thankful to them for rescuing it. Susan paused in the corridor, closing her eyes in an attempt to see the strange jumble of thoughts pouring out of the walls. It was the reverse of gratitude. The ship thought _it_ had rescued _them_.

 

 _No, it was mutual_ , Susan thought, _don't you see? We helped each other and we can continue to –_

The ship swept away her rebuttal with a wave of condescension, but there was mirth at the edges, like when Grandfather hmm'd and frowned, but his eyes still twinkled. The ship thought of them as children. They were helpless, soft, naïve creatures who needed protection. And the ship would give it because it thought their ignorance was cute.

 

 _But children can learn_ , Susan thought, _teach us?_

 

She felt the ship smile. Certain secrets of time were whispered in Susan's ear. She nodded. She wouldn't tell Grandfather. Not yet. He was stubborn and only believed truths he discovered on his own.

 

"Stop dawdling," he grumbled at her from a junction further down the hall.

 

Susan opened her eyes. "The beds are this way, Grandfather," she said, turning down a corridor different from the one he'd chosen.

 

"And how would you know, hmm? No, Susan, this is the correct course."

 

"I just thought, maybe if both of us looked in different directions –"

 

"But we don't know how far back this ship stretches, do we? Some time capsules are near infinite, and it wouldn't do to lose each other before we have our bearings, would it?"

 

"Grandfather, I really do think this is the way," Susan said.

 

"Then we will come back to it after if this course fails us."

 

 _Stubborn_. Susan could feel the ship laughing as she hurried after Grandfather. It had shifted the rooms around to match his course, so the beds would appear shortly down the hall, and Grandfather would think himself right, but they'd both get to sleep sooner. Susan wasn't certain whether to be angry or relieved. The ship hummed its mirth in her mind:

 

 _Ridiculous. Funny. He will learn. We will teach. We_ – it was plural now, and inclusive across millennia of shared co-existence – _will be together a long time_.

 

 


End file.
